Last week, an article highlighted inadvertent data exposure by Box users at several large organizations. The issue is due to inappropriately set shared link permissions which may be the default set by their organization. They estimate that terabytes of sensitive information at hundreds of Box customers is exposed.
Our Box enterprise shared links default to “People in this folder/file,” restricting access to invited collaborators only and requiring users to choose to make the content available to the public by selecting the "Anyone with the link" option. Though we’ve received comments and complaints over the years about this “restrictive” setting, findings like this support our choice and ensure we minimize the chance of inadvertent data leakage.
First up, Box has released the new simplified sharing experience to Box Web. The new sharing process gives quick access to adding collaborators and creating shared links.
Collaboration and shared links settings in one window
To open the Share window, right-click or use the ellipses (…) menu and then click Share. Now you can invite collaborators to work on content together, or create a shared link to distribute content, all in the same window!
The default location of the Box Drive folder does not allow collaborators to access absolute links set by another user and required by some applications, like Excel, Word, InDesign, etc. If your users work with applications that require an absolute path outside of their operating system’s user directory, their Box Drive folder can now exist elsewhere in the file system, allowing for use of linked files and spreadsheets.
Please note this change does not allow other users of the same computer to access another user’s Box Drive content, even in they can access the path configured for the Box Drive folder. The Box Drive folder is still only available to only the user logged in to the same operating system session as the Box Drive application.
Box for iOS and Box for Android include features for users who rely on their mobile phone or tablet while traveling or working out of the office. Over 100 file formats are supported by the content previewer, so many files can be viewed with no additional software. We will take a look at a few features that empower mobile users with access their content stored in Box.
The Make Available Offline option is in the ellipsis menu.
With Box for iOS and Android, you can save files and folders from Box to your mobile device and access them when you're not online. To make a file or folder available offline, swipe right in list view, or choose Make Available Offline from the ellipsis (…) menu. Content marked for offline access is shown in the Offline section of the Box app.
Click the Offline tab to see content saved on the device
Upload Photos, Videos, and Other Files
Upload your new photos automatically
The Add menu lets users upload specific content
The Box mobile app can upload new photos and videos automatically. Turn on Automatic Upload in the settings, choose a destination folder, and decide whether to include existing photos. Turn off Use Cellular Data to only upload when on wifi and keep uploads from consuming your data plan.
The Add (+) menu in the content browser lets you create folders, take photos to upload, upload existing photos, or create a new Box Note.
Best of all, you can use the iOS Share menu to upload files from many other apps to Box. Create and save a file in most applications, then use the Box action to upload.
In this example, an audio note from the Voice Memos app on iOS is uploaded to Box through the Share menu. Notice you can choose the destination folder and watch the upload progress bar.
Review your Favorite and Recently Accessed Files
Find Favorite and Recent content quickly
The best way to fight folder sprawl in Box is to mark your work-in-progress content as Favorites for quick access in the web and mobile apps. Use the Add to Favorites menu option, then you can visit the Favorites section in the mobile app to see your marked folders and docs. Your favorite items are also displayed in the sidebar of the web app.
Need to double check a figure in the document you just closed on your desktop? The Recents section contains the content you've accessed most recently, including files opened in other Box applications or on other devices.
Box has posted the final release notes for Drive v2.4, which will be rolling out soon. Box Drive v2.4 will include a Sync uninstaller that starts when Box Drive is launched. The process can be automated by registry key, too.
The process will guide the user through completing any pending synchronization, uninstalling Box Sync, and logging in to Box Drive.
